I made the switch to D*....my first impressions.

RedWings

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Sep 18, 2006
841
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Leesburg, VA
Disclaimer: This is not a way for me to bash one provider or the other. It is simply to give my impression of D*'s service/equipment compared to E*'s. This may be helpful for someone on the fence.


Equipment: 2 HD-DVRs (HR24), 2 HD receivers (H24)

Stuff I like:

- Single wire technology. Man is it nice and clean. 1 wire from the dish to the switch. 1 wire from the switch to the box. No splitters behind the box. No ethernet cable required for internet.

- Whole Home DVR. The only way to accomplish this at all TVs is to have an HD box at each TV. 3 of my TVs are HD and the 4th is an old style. I sprung on the 2nd HD box so I could access the whole home DVR from that 4th TV. The service is nice and you are able to set recordings from every TV to whatever DVR you want. Only 2 people can be watching something on each DVR regardless of the setup. So if 3 people are trying to pull something off DVR 1, it won't work. But with 2 DVRs, that won't be an issue with me.

- Speed / layout of menus. It is fast. It is easy to navigate. E*'s was very easy to navigate too. It is a tie in terms of navigation.

- Programming. I love sports and they have lots of them in HD. :up

- Widgets / Scoreboard. Press the red button on a sports station and a scoreboard comes up with all major sports. If the game is available for viewing, you can click on it and it'll take you to that channel. Widgets are just other little things you can access like weather, facebook (limited i'm sure), flickr (what for...I don't know), My NHL Team, etc..

- Quick Tune. Press the up arrow on the remote and it shows you a list of 9 (I think) channels you set as your quick tunes. Think of presets on your radio in your car.

- On Demand. I don't have it hooked up yet, but I have a feeling it will be pretty bad ass based on what i've seen in their lineup.

- Receivers are smaller and better looking.


Stuff I don't like or E* does better:

- Speed of channel changing. Noticeably slower. Or it appears that way.

- PiP. There is no PiP option. That sucks.

- 'Double Down' is D*'s version of "swap". For those unfamiliar, it is a way to swap between tuners. So you can watch/pause something on each tuner and switch back and forth. For E* you had to have the receiver set in Single mode. D*'s double down is slower to switch between tuners. E* was like lightning and make it a preference over using last channel or previous channel. D*'s also displays the channel banner every time you switch back/forth.

- D* doesn't have Style HD or DIY HD which were favorites of my GF. Lose some and gain some.

- RedZone. D* requires you to subscribe to the Sunday Ticket to get it.

- Online DVR management. You can only schedule recordings with D*'s online/mobile phone app service. No DVR management like E*.

- False promises. Be careful if you switch to make sure any promise a CSR has made that is outside of the current promotions is on your account prior to activation. I ran into an issue trying to get the RedZone channel and was told it could be done for free after my install. They were wrong. But I did work a deal out with their retentions dept.
 
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Good job. I want to switch for more sports but some of your "cons" make me hesitant and if only two rooms can be watching off one DVR would need same set up as you. Maybe later.
 
We already have a thread for this:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/230439-goodbye-charlie-official-i-am-leaving.html

Maybe it should be stickied to help make it easier to find...

This wasn't a goodbye thread to talk trash on E*. This was purely informational for those wondering the differences or having questions about comparing the two. There is a lot you don't know until you have it set up and you are messing with it. I'd hate to see someone switch and then find out there favorite options (ie...PiP) is not available.
 
Good job. I want to switch for more sports but some of your "cons" make me hesitant and if only two rooms can be watching off one DVR would need same set up as you. Maybe later.

Just to be clear, more than 2 rooms can watch off of one DVR. Every room with an HD box or HD-DVR can see all DVRs. But the HD-DVR can only provide two "Streams" at a time. So if you are watching something on the DVR, only 1 other room can watch something on that DVR.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=178068

Q: How many programs can I watch at one time from an HR2x using MRV (Whole Home DVR)?

A: Only 1 program can be streamed at a time from an HR2x. However, you can watch a program locally while streaming to another receiver. You also can watch a program from another DVR while the DVR you are watching is streaming to a different DVR (1 stream in, 1 stream out). Note: DirecTV2PC clients count as a stream, so if you are using DirecTV2PC you cannot stream to another DirecTV receiver at the same time.
 
This wasn't a goodbye thread to talk trash on E*. This was purely informational for those wondering the differences or having questions about comparing the two. There is a lot you don't know until you have it set up and you are messing with it. I'd hate to see someone switch and then find out there favorite options (ie...PiP) is not available.
The intent of the thread I quoted was not to talk trash, it was to consolidate the "I'm leaving dish and here's why" threads into one neat tidy one. As long as one of them is stickied to cut down on the repetitive threads, that's fine...
 
i just made the switch today myself- i will miss PIP too - one thing i haven't figured yet - i have 2 HR24's - can i record to either box from one location? i was told i can by installer but he left before showing me and i don't see that option...

one other plus with directv - i finally get MSGHD and as soon as the install was done i watched Rangers in 60!! in HD -- gorgeous!!
 
- Widgets / Scoreboard. Press the red button on a sports station and a scoreboard comes up with all major sports. If the game is available for viewing, you can click on it and it'll take you to that channel. Widgets are just other little things you can access like weather, facebook (limited i'm sure), flickr (what for...I don't know), My NHL Team, etc..
I have never used widgets. How do you access them?
 
right directional arrow- pretty cool stuff!
This is so cool. I am currently checking out my FB updates through my receiver while watching TV. Ironically it took a 2 day DirecTV and former Dish sub to tell a 10+ year DirecTV sub about this feature. I had no idea this feature existed.
 
i just made the switch today myself- i will miss PIP too - one thing i haven't figured yet - i have 2 HR24's - can i record to either box from one location? i was told i can by installer but he left before showing me and i don't see that option...

one other plus with directv - i finally get MSGHD and as soon as the install was done i watched Rangers in 60!! in HD -- gorgeous!!

I don't see the option from my HR24. From either of my HD non-dvr boxes I can choose which DVR I want to record something to. Surprised you can't do it from the DVR.
 
Sounds like DirecTV has some pretty cool features that Dish does not have. Due to this whole Fox/Dish debacle I think I'm finally going to bite the bullet and switch either this week or next. There's no way I can watch a full season of Lakers games in standard def and since it doesn't look like there will be an end to this mess anytime soon I might as well make the move now. Hope I don't regret the switch.
 
Sounds like DirecTV has some pretty cool features that Dish does not have. Due to this whole Fox/Dish debacle I think I'm finally going to bite the bullet and switch either this week or next. There's no way I can watch a full season of Lakers games in standard def and since it doesn't look like there will be an end to this mess anytime soon I might as well make the move now. Hope I don't regret the switch.
Even if you do regret it , you won't be able to leave for two years. Unless you pay out the Ass to get out of contract. I know I did and payed over $380.00 to leave them a few years back. Will NOT ever go back to Directv even if you paid me.
 
I have both right now and I am trying very hard to justify dumping Dish, but I can't. Too many shortcomings with Directv.
 

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